Stress Inversion and Fracture Prediction using Elastic Dislocation Modelling in The Wisting Field, Barents Sea

Summary Boundary element modelling is a well-established numerical method to predict fracture patterns in the subsurface. We apply this technique to an orthorhombic E-W, N-S normal fault system in the Wisting field, near the Hoop Fault Complex, Barents Sea. The study area has undergone significant Cenozoic uplift and thus the influence of the vertical load has decreased over geological time. The faults are less than 400 m depth below the sea floor present day, and have undergone ca. 1600 m uplift and erosion, The aim is to explore potential local stress perturbations across the area by conducting elastic dislocation modelling and assessing the dilation tendency of predicted sub-seismic fractures.